taint

¹

[ teynt ]

noun

1. a trace of something bad, offensive, or harmful.

   Synonyms: stain, blemish, spot, fault, flaw, defect

2. a trace of infection, contamination, or the like.
3. a trace of dishonor or discredit.
4. Obsolete. color; tint.

verb (used with object)

1. to modify by or as if by a trace of something offensive or deleterious.
2. to infect, contaminate, corrupt, or spoil.

   Synonyms: poison, pollute, defile

3. to sully or tarnish (a person's name, reputation, etc.).

   Synonyms: stain, dishonor

4. Obsolete. to color or tint.

verb (used without object)

1. to become tainted; spoil.

taint

²

or t'aint

noun

, Slang: Vulgar.

1. the area between the testicles or vulva and the anus; the perineum.

taint

/ teɪnt /

verb

1. to affect or be affected by pollution or contamination

   oil has tainted the water

2. to tarnish (someone's reputation, etc)

noun

1. a defect or flaw

   a taint on someone's reputation

2. a trace of contamination or infection

Derived Forms

• ˈtaintless, adjective

Other Words From

• un·taint·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of taint¹

First recorded in 1325–75; conflation of Middle English taynt, shortened variant of attaint “struck, attainted,” past participle of attainten “to convict” ( attaint ), late Middle English taynt “hue, tint” ( tint ), from Anglo-French teint or directly from Latin tinctus, equivalent to ting(ere) “to dye, color“ ( tinge ) + -tus suffix of verb action); and teinte, from Late Latin tincta “inked stroke,” noun use of feminine of past participle of tingere

Origin of taint²

First recorded in 1955–60; casual pronunciation of it ain’t (the one or the other), i.e., it is the area in between

Word History and Origins

Origin of taint¹

C14: (influenced by attaint infected, from attain ) from Old French teindre to dye, from Latin tingere to dye

Example Sentences

Boyer told The Times in an interview on Thursday that investigators brought the completed forms to his home to question him about them and didn’t mention that they may have been tainted with any substance.

From Los Angeles Times

Republicans piled on, filing an amicus brief complaining that the deal was too lenient and that the investigation was tainted by political interference from the Biden administration.

From Los Angeles Times

Untroubled by the positive tests and the possibility of selling raw milk products tainted with the bird flu virus, McAfee told The Times that he is urging consumers to “get to the store. Immediately!”

From Los Angeles Times

As well as grappling with how to ensure fake papers don’t compromise future reviews, researchers wonder how to cope with tainted reviews that have already been published.

From Science Magazine

Trump is also planning to assemble investigative teams within the Justice Department to hunt for evidence in battleground states that fraud tainted the 2020 election, one of the people said.

From Salon

Related Words

• besmirch
• blight
• cloud
• corrupt
• damage
• discredit
• harm
• hurt
• infect
• muddy
• poison
• pollute
• smear
• spoil
• stain
• sully
• tar
• tarnish